Chapter 3
I didn’t think.
I moved.
I scooped Emily into my arms while shouting into the phone.
“David, we’re going to the hospital.”
“I’m coming.”
Emily grabbed my shirt.
“Ryan, put me down. I can walk.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
I carried her through the front door.
Our argument no longer mattered.
The money didn’t matter.
Lauren didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered except the woman shaking in my arms and the two babies I had learned about less than fifteen minutes earlier.
I put Emily in the passenger seat.
“Seat belt.”
“I can do it.”
Her hands were trembling too badly.
I fastened it for her.
Then I ran around the truck.
“Which hospital?”
“My doctor uses Baylor.”
I started the engine.
Emily grabbed my wrist.
“Don’t drive like an idiot.”
“I won’t.”
“You always drive like an idiot when you’re scared.”
I looked at her.
Despite everything, that sounded like my wife.
For one second, I almost smiled.
Then she pressed a hand against her stomach and closed her eyes.
I pulled onto the road.
“Pain?”
“Yes.”
“Bad?”
“I don’t know.”
“That means yes.”
“Ryan.”
“I’m here.”
She looked out the window.
“Were you going to tell me about Noah?”
I tightened my hands around the steering wheel.
“Not right now.”
“So that’s a no.”
“Emily, you’re having abdominal pain. We are not doing this in the truck.”
“Because you’re scared I’ll hear the truth?”
“Because I’m scared something is happening to our babies.”
Her eyes filled.
“So am I.”
That ended the conversation.
For about two minutes.
Then she whispered, “Do you love her?”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Lauren.”
“No.”
“Have you slept with her?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
“Is Noah yours?”
“No.”
I answered so quickly that she finally looked at me.
I held her gaze as long as I safely could.
“Noah is not my son.”
“Then who is he?”
I hesitated.
Her face hardened.
“You’re doing it again.”
“I made Jake a promise.”
She laughed once, bitter and exhausted.
“Of course you did.”
“Emily.”
“You made your brother a promise, so lying to your pregnant wife was acceptable?”
“I didn’t know you were pregnant.”
“That doesn’t make it acceptable.”
“I know.”
That was the first time all evening that I simply admitted it.
Her expression shifted slightly.
I continued.
“I know I screwed up.”
“You did more than screw up.”
“I know.”
“But you still won’t tell me.”
I took a breath.
“Noah is Jake’s son.”
Emily blinked.
“What?”
“Lauren is Jake’s ex-girlfriend.”
“I’ve never heard of her.”
“That’s because Jake didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Why?”
“Because he denied Noah was his.”
Emily stared at me.
“The boy is six.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I met him.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
She looked physically sick.
I hated myself for what I had done to her.
I kept talking.
“Lauren contacted me because Jake blocked her. She had been trying to get him to take a paternity test for years.”
“Why contact you?”
“Because she found me through social media. She knew I was his brother.”
“And you gave her thirty-eight thousand dollars?”
“No.”
“Then where did it go?”
“Jake got into legal trouble after the paternity test.”
“So there was a test.”
“Yes.”
“And Noah is his.”
“Yes.”
Emily stared ahead.
“Jake has a six-year-old son and never told us.”
“Yes.”
“And you found out two months ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
She laughed softly.
It was worse than screaming.
“Wonderful.”
“I was trying to get Jake to handle it himself.”
“You mean you were cleaning up after him.”
“I was trying to keep a child from paying for Jake’s stupidity.”
Her expression changed.
That was the problem.
Emily knew me well enough to know exactly what would get through to me.
A child.
I would have done almost anything to stop a kid from suffering because of his father.
Maybe because I knew what that felt like.
Maybe because Jake did too.
But helping Noah wasn’t the worst choice I had made.
I had crossed the line when I started hiding things.
“The thirty-eight thousand went partly to Jake’s attorney,” I explained. “Partly to back child support. Partly toward an apartment deposit for Lauren because she was being evicted.”
Emily’s jaw dropped.
“You paid your brother’s child support?”
“Some of it.”
“With our savings.”
“I planned to replace it.”
“With what?”
“I sold some stock.”
“You sold stock too?”
I cursed myself.
She stared at me.
“How much money have you moved?”
“Emily.”
“How much?”
“About fifty-two thousand total.”
Her face went blank.
“Fifty-two thousand dollars.”
“I can put most of it back.”
“From where?”
“I have an annual bonus coming.”
“You spent fifty-two thousand dollars without speaking to me?”
“I was going to recover it before you noticed.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized how terrible they sounded.
Emily stared at me.
“You were going to hide it successfully.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, it is.”
She turned toward the window.
“I wasn’t supposed to find out.”
I had no defense.
None.
The hospital appeared ahead.
I pulled into emergency parking.
Before I could stop, Emily said quietly, “This is why I called my father.”
I looked at her.
“Not because I wanted to steal your babies from you.”
Her eyes filled.
“Because I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
That hurt more than anything she had screamed at me.
Because she was right.
I had given her reasons not to.
I parked.
Then I turned toward her.
“I’m sorry.”
She didn’t answer.
“I should’ve told you everything.”
“No kidding.”
“I was wrong.”
Her chin trembled.
“We wanted these babies for years.”
“I know.”
“And when I finally saw those two heartbeats, I wanted to call you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I kept thinking about our bank account.”
I closed my eyes.
“I kept thinking, if he can hide that much money, what else can he hide?”
She looked down.
“Then I started wondering if you even wanted this marriage anymore.”
“I do.”
“You haven’t acted like it.”
“I know.”
She opened the door.
I came around to help her.
“Don’t.”
“Emily.”
“I can walk.”
This time I let her.
We entered the emergency department together but not touching.
Ten minutes later, a nurse brought Emily into an examination room.
I followed until Emily stopped me.
“I want a minute.”
The nurse looked between us.
“Are you sure?”
Emily nodded.
I stood frozen.
“You don’t want me there?”
“Not yet.”
My chest tightened.
“Okay.”
She disappeared behind the door.
I sat in the hallway.
For the first time since the phone call, I had nothing to do.
No one to save.
No problem to solve.
Just consequences.
My phone vibrated.
Lauren.
I almost ignored it.
Then another text arrived.
Jake disappeared.
I sat straighter.
A third message.
He took my car.
A fourth.
Ryan, there’s something else. You need to check your credit. Tonight.
My heart began pounding again.
I called her.
She answered immediately.
“Ryan?”
“What happened?”
“I went to pick Noah up from my sister’s house. When I got back, Jake was waiting outside my apartment.”
“Why?”
“He wanted money.”
“He said he was done asking me.”
“Well, apparently he changed his mind.”
I stood.
“What did you give him?”
“Nothing.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“He was angry. He said you betrayed him.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why would he say that?”
“Because I told him you were helping me document everything for court.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“Lauren.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. It’s okay.”
“No, there’s more.”
I looked toward Emily’s examination room.
“What?”
“Jake said it doesn’t matter what happens in court because you’re going to be too busy fixing your own mess.”
Cold spread through me.
“What mess?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did you tell me to check my credit?”
She went quiet.
“Lauren?”
“When Jake left, I found papers on the ground where his car had been parked.”
“What papers?”
“Loan applications.”
My mouth went dry.
“With my name?”
“Yes.”
I leaned against the wall.
“Send me pictures.”
“I already did.”
I opened the attachments.
The first page showed a personal loan for twenty-five thousand dollars.
Borrower: Ryan Mercer.
The signature looked like mine.
It wasn’t.
I swiped.
Another loan.
Then a credit line.
Then something that made my stomach collapse.
A home-equity application.
Our house.
My house with Emily.
Collateral.
Requested amount: $120,000.
I stopped breathing.
The application had my information.
And Emily’s.
Her Social Security number.
Her income.
Her fake signature.
“No,” I whispered.
“What?” Lauren asked.
“He used Emily’s identity too.”
I heard her curse.
I turned toward the examination room.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The strange mail.
The calls I thought were spam.
The notice Emily had found.
Jake hadn’t just needed help.
He had been building a trap around us.
And while I protected him, he had been stealing from me.
The examination room door opened.
A nurse stepped out.
“Mr. Mercer?”
I hung up.
“Yes?”
“You can come in.”
My legs felt weak.
“Is she okay?”
The nurse smiled slightly.
“Why don’t you come see for yourself?”
I entered.
Emily was lying on the bed.
Her face was wet with tears.
A monitor stood beside her.
The doctor moved a wand over her stomach.
Then the room filled with a rapid sound.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
My breath caught.
One heartbeat.
Then the doctor shifted the wand.
A second rhythm joined it.
Fast.
Strong.
Alive.
I covered my mouth.
Emily looked at me.
For a few seconds, neither of us remembered we were angry.
The doctor smiled.
“There they are.”
I walked to Emily’s side.
“Both?”
“Both babies have strong cardiac activity. We’ll do some bloodwork and additional checks, but right now everything looks reassuring.”
My knees almost buckled.
I grabbed the edge of the bed.
Emily started sobbing.
Without thinking, I reached for her hand.
She let me take it.
I kissed her knuckles.
“They’re okay.”
She nodded.
“They’re okay.”
We stayed like that until the doctor stepped out.
Then Emily slowly pulled her hand away.
Reality returned.
I sat beside her.
“There’s something else.”
Her expression immediately changed.
“What now?”
“It’s Jake.”
She sighed.
“I don’t think I can take another secret tonight.”
“This one affects you directly.”
I held out my phone.
She looked at the loan application.
Her face changed from anger to confusion.
Then fear.
“What is this?”
“I think Jake forged our signatures.”
She looked at the amount.
Then at me.
“This is our house.”
“I know.”
She scrolled.
“How does he have my Social Security number?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ryan.”
“I swear I don’t know.”
She stared at the screen.
Then she whispered something that made the room feel cold.
“I do.”
I looked at her.
Emily’s face had gone pale.
“Three months ago, your brother came to the house while you were at work.”
My heart stopped.
“What did he want?”
“He said you asked him to pick up our tax folder from the office.”
I stared at her.
“I never asked him to do that.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“I gave it to him.”
May you like
Neither of us spoke.
Finally she whispered, “Ryan, what has your brother done to us?”
